Analysis methods for the first KATRIN neutrino-mass measurement
Abstract
We report on the data set, data handling, and detailed analysis techniques of the first neutrino-mass measurement by the Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment, which probes the absolute neutrino-mass scale via the -decay kinematics of molecular tritium. The source is highly pure, cryogenic T gas. The electrons are guided along magnetic field lines toward a high-resolution, integrating spectrometer for energy analysis. A silicon detector counts electrons above the energy threshold of the spectrometer, so that a scan of the thresholds produces a precise measurement of the high-energy spectral tail. After detailed theoretical studies, simulations, and commissioning measurements, extending from the molecular final-state distribution to inelastic scattering in the source to subtleties of the electromagnetic fields, our independent, blind analyses allow us to set an upper limit of 1.1 eV on the neutrino-mass scale at a 90\% confidence level. This first result, based on a few weeks of running at a reduced source intensity and dominated by statistical uncertainty, improves on prior limits by nearly a factor of two. This result establishes an analysis framework for future KATRIN measurements, and provides important input to both particle theory and cosmology.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2101.05253,
title = {Analysis methods for the first KATRIN neutrino-mass measurement},
author = {M. Aker and K. Altenmüller and A. Beglarian and J. Behrens and A. Berlev and U. Besserer and B. Bieringer and K. Blaum and F. Block and B. Bornschein and L. Bornschein and M. Böttcher and T. Brunst and T. S. Caldwell and L. La Cascio and S. Chilingaryan and W. Choi and D. Díaz Barrero and K. Debowski and M. Deffert and M. Descher and P. J. Doe and O. Dragoun and G. Drexlin and S. Dyba and F. Edzards and K. Eitel and E. Ellinger and R. Engel and S. Enomoto and M. Fedkevych and A. Felden and J. A. Formaggio and F. M. Fränkle and G. B. Franklin and F. Friedel and A. Fulst and K. Gauda and W. Gil and F. Glück and R. Grössle and R. Gumbsheimer and T. Höhn and V. Hannen and N. Haußmann and K. Helbing and S. Hickford and R. Hiller and D. Hillesheimer and D. Hinz and T. Houdy and A. Huber and A. Jansen and L. Köllenberger and C. Karl and J. Kellerer and L. Kippenbrock and M. Klein and A. Kopmann and M. Korzeczek and A. Kovalík and B. Krasch and H. Krause and T. Lasserre and T. L. Le and O. Lebeda and B. Lehnert and A. Lokhov and J. M. Lopez Poyato and K. Müller and M. Machatschek and E. Malcherek and M. Mark and A. Marsteller and E. L. Martin and C. Melzer and S. Mertens and S. Niemes and P. Oelpmann and A. Osipowicz and D. S. Parno and A. W. P. Poon and F. Priester and M. Röllig and C. Röttele and O. Rest and R. G. H. Robertson and C. Rodenbeck and M. Ryšavý and R. Sack and A. Saenz and A. Schaller and P. Schäfer and L. Schimpf and K. Schlösser and M. Schlösser and L. Schlüter and M. Schrank and B. Schulz and M. Šefčík and H. Seitz-Moskaliuk and V. Sibille and D. Siegmann and M. Slezák and F. Spanier and M. Steidl and M. Sturm and M. Sun and H. H. Telle and T. Thümmler and L. A. Thorne and N. Titov and I. Tkachev and N. Trost and D. Vénos and K. Valerius and A. P. Vizcaya Hernández and S. Wüstling and M. Weber and C. Weinheimer and C. Weiss and S. Welte and J. Wendel and J. F. Wilkerson and J. Wolf and W. Xu and Y. -R. Yen and S. Zadoroghny and G. Zeller},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2101.05253},
year = {2021}
}
Comments
36 pages with 26 figures. Accepted to Phys. Rev. D